final release

Newsweek, 8/18/22

Harrowing footage shows a lonely killer whale circling its tank and thrashing around, having outlived its friends and offspring.

Kiska, dubbed the "world's loneliest orca," circled the perimeter and splashed water over the walls of her isolated tank at MarineLand Park in Niagra Falls, Ontario, Canada. The footage was filmed in June 2022.

The orca is said to have been captured in Icelandic waters in 1979, and has been in captivity ever since. Kiska, who is approximately 45-years-old, has survived all of her tank mates and her five calves, activists say.

Researchers and activists believe her behavior is a result of her damaged mental and physical health and well-being from prolonged captivity. SWNS reached out to MarineLand Park for comment.

MarineLand has had 26 orcas pass through its tanks since it opened in 1962, with 20 of them dying there and the rest either traded or given away to other establishments.

Despite being well-known as social animals that thrive in groups, Kiska remains isolated from any other animal.

Former MarineLand employee-turned-activist Phil Demers, 44, who worked at the park for 12 years, said: "Kiska is MarineLand's last surviving orca. She was captured in 1979 in Icelandic waters and has been at MarineLand ever since.

"Her mental and physical health are deteriorating and as seen in the video, she repeatedly swims around her pool in the exact same way, even stopping briefly in some shallow water to shake erratically.

"Experts call it "zoochosis." Orcas are social animals and need to be with their families, or at the least, with others of their own species. For Kiska, her isolation is torture. Sadly, Kiska's fate is largely sealed at MarineLand as she is their property, and as no viable seaside sanctuaries exist, her future is heartbreakingly bleak."